Trump trusted Republican Party election results more than others: USAFacts/AP-NORC poll

CHICAGO (AP) — For Christopher Pugh, the 2020 election was a turning point.

He didn’t trust the government before. But when he watched Fox News reports immediately after the election and posts he read on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X, made for a heightened sense of distrust. He now believes falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen and he trusts few people other than former President Donald Trump to tell him the election results.

“I trust Donald Trump, not the government,” said the 38-year-old Republican from Gulfport, Mississippi. “That’s it.”

While most Americans trust government-certified election results at least “moderately,” Republicans are more likely to trust Trump and his campaign, according to a new survey Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center AND USAFactsAmericans are also approaching the November election with concerns about disinformation, with many having little confidence in the factual information they receive from the presidential candidates — particularly Trump but also Vice President Kamala Harris.

Asset continues to lie about the 2020 election results.saying that it was rigged against him even after dozens of his court hearings ended in failure, reviews, he tells AND audits IN battleground states all confirmed the victory of President Joe Biden and Trump prosecutor said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Despite no evidence any general fraud, 2023 survey showed that most Republicans believe Biden was not legally elected president.

As Trump makes his third run as the Republican candidate, he is also sending a signal that he can only lose because of widespread fraud. This weekend threatened to initiate criminal proceedings those who would “engage in dishonest conduct” in this election if he won in November.

“The only way they can beat us is by cheating,” Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas in June.

The latest AP-NORC poll shows that a significant portion of Trump supporters may be more likely to believe what he says about the upcoming election results than to trust the government. certification of election results.

About two-thirds of Republicans trust the Trump campaign to provide at least a moderate amount of accurate information about the 2024 election results, while only about half say the same about official certifications of results, the survey found. By contrast, about 9 in 10 Democrats trust the government certification at least a moderate amount, and a solid majority, 82%, also have at least a moderate amount of trust in Harris and her campaign.

A majority of Americans — about 7 in 10 — trust government certifications of election results at least somewhat, according to the survey. Most also trust national and local TV news networks, as well as local or national newspapers, to provide accurate information about the results of this year’s presidential election.

Danielle Almeida, a 45-year-old Democrat from Briarcliff Manor, New York, said she trusts the government-certified election results and finds it troubling that some Americans do not share them.

“To have a democracy, we have to trust the system and the results of our elections,” she said, adding that she believes Trump “doesn’t care about fact-checking because he thinks his supporters don’t care either.”

Americans are less likely to trust campaigns in general — compared to sources like the government and the media — but they have higher levels of trust in Harris and her campaign than in Trump and his campaign when it comes to providing accurate information about the election results. About half have at least a “moderate” level of trust in Harris and her campaign. By comparison, about 4 in 10 have at least a moderate level of trust in Trump and his campaign.

Some Republicans’ distrust of the election results began well before the 2020 election.

Richard Baum, a 60-year-old conservative independent from Odessa, Texas, said his suspicions began in the 2000 U.S. presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. After Bush won by a narrow margin, “hanging studs” became an unlikely symbol regarding the disputed presidential elections small anomalies popular vote turned into a serious controversy at the national level.

“There were some things there that didn’t seem right and that made me have a lot of doubts about whether I could trust the government,” Baum said.

Baum said he would only trust the election results if voting took place on a single day, early voting and postal voting were banned and photo IDs were required at all polling stations.

A USAFacts/AP-NORC poll finds that many Americans doubt the credibility of both presidential candidates’ campaign messages, but skepticism toward Trump’s campaign is greater.

About 6 in 10 Americans believe Trump’s campaign messages are “rarely” or “never” based on facts, while 45% say the same about Harris’s campaign messages.

Many Americans also say it’s hard to tell fact from fiction when it comes to the candidates. Just under half of Americans say it’s “very easy” or “somewhat easy” to find factual information about the candidates and their positions, and only about a third say it’s easy to tell whether what the candidates say is true or not.

About 6 in 10 Americans say it is easy for them to distinguish fact from opinion when it comes to information about the upcoming presidential election, but only about 4 in 10 say it is easy for them to tell whether information is true or not.

Americans, however, are more confident about factual information related to election logistics: About 7 in 10 Americans say it is easy to find information about how to register to vote, and about 6 in 10 say it is easy to find information about how to cast their vote.

Michele Martin, a 56-year-old Democrat from Pennsylvania, said she is “very concerned” about disinformation from politicians but believes it is much easier to access basic voter information.

“It’s online. It’s being sent to you. It’s not hard to find,” she said.

About 8 in 10 Americans say the spread of misinformation is a “serious problem” when it comes to getting information about government. That hasn’t changed much since the question was asked in 2020.

Lisa Kuda, a 57-year-old Republican from Palm Harbor, Florida, said she gets most of her news from social media and friends. She said she feels alienated from most news sources other than Fox News.

“Disinformation is everywhere,” she said. “It’s really hard to find information about the candidates.”

When Americans see election news and want to know if it’s true, 40% say they first search the internet. A much smaller share — about 1 in 10 — say they first check cable news, national TV news, or social media.

Baum, from Texas, said he has a hard time easily accessing information about the candidates because he feels social media platforms “censor conservative ideologies.” He also distrusts Google and instead turns to conservative networks and podcasts, such as One America News, and conservative podcasters to fact-check claims he’s unsure about.

Almeida’s process is quite different. She starts with a Google search and combs through multiple articles from news outlets like The New York Times and NBC News, noting any differences. If multiple articles contain the same information, she said, she’s more likely to trust them.

“Disinformation is a huge problem,” she said. “You have to take the time to do the research.”

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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report. Sanders reported from Washington.

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The poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

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